Speaker 1 00:00:04 Hello, and welcome to the wonder Baba podcast. My name is Sheena Mitchell. I'm a pharmacist and mom of three. I'm here to chat all about child and family health. I really hope you enjoy the show. This podcast is proudly sponsored by Medicare fem sense. Ireland's newest and most innovative ovulation tracking solution. The Medicare fem sense smart temperature patch is comfortable and discrete and is worn under your arm during your fertile window to measure and confirm ovulation women have reported a 93% success rate in detecting ovulation with over 10,000 pregnancies already recorded. Visit Fleming medical.ie/fem sense for more details. Jane, thank you so much for joining us today. Would you mind just telling me a little bit about web wise for parents who don't know what it is?
Speaker 2 00:00:57 Thanks very much for having me on Shayna. We are the Irish internet safety awareness center and at the heart of our work, we promote safer, better internet use among children and young people. We develop education resources for schools to use. So schools can use these to integrate internet CFD and digital citizenship into teaching and learning, and they cover topics like cyber bullying, privacy image sharing, using social media. There's any teachers listening. We've lots of free resources for schools. We also provide training in CPD for teachers and teens as well. We're also supported in our work through youth advisory panel. So they input into all areas of our work. It's really important that we include young peoples and children's voices in these conversations. And really importantly, our role is to give them a platform to have their voices heards on matters that are, are important to them. They've appeared in Rous committees talking about cyber bullying and online safety, and they also give their feedback to industry as well, which is really important finally. And I suppose of most relevance to our track this morning, we support parents and families through advice and resources, and we've got a whole hub developed for
[email protected] board slash parents. And there's lots of free information advice, expert videos, explainer guides, and, and lots more to help parents get started on this journey.
Speaker 1 00:02:26 Just touching off your work with teachers in the schools, how much digital safety is involved in the syllabus, or is it covered by the syllabus at all?
Speaker 2 00:02:37 The online safety fits quite neatly into the SBG curriculum, but actually it can be looked at across the curriculum, particularly the area of digital citizenship, the curriculum is, is quite packed. So we have an annual awareness. There is an event called, uh, see for internet day and that takes place every February. And that's a great way for schools, families, and organizations, and young people themselves to dedicate time to, to looking at online CFD. It's a grayish awareness where initiative,
Speaker 1 00:03:08 Okay, that's good to know. So then the responsibility isn't fully on the parents, that's what I'm getting at. <laugh> I'm like get me off the hook here.
Speaker 2 00:03:17 There is an important role for everyone to play. Um, you know, parents, families, educators, and government and policy makers, and the industry all have roles to play in it.
Speaker 1 00:03:29 I wanted to get in touch because it's something that comes up in every parent's life. That's something that's changed over the last couple of decades because when I was growing up, there was one screen in the corner of one room and that was the only screen that was involved in our life. We watched TV, there wasn't a choice. Like I grew up with three older brothers. So I ended up watching a lot of lost in space and random rubbish. So I think it's a very different relationship with technology with the, the evolution of it that young children face today, devices are so small. So mobile they're used to instant access to whatever they particularly want to watch. So it's just to try and support parents to try and navigate that and how to promote a safe way of doing it. I'm still amazed when I see two year olds out and about swiping and entering passcodes, like things have moved on.
Speaker 1 00:04:28 I'm very torn on the subject because digital technology is part of this generation's life and it's going to continue to evolve. So are we doing the right or wrong thing when we restrict it? Do we encourage it? What's the best approach to take, to enable them to grow up balanced? <laugh> we have this fear that we're damaging them by just sticking them on an iPad or a tablet for a break. So just trying to find that sweet spot of allowing them to explore technology, which is clearly gonna be a part of their life and limiting it so that it doesn't affect their developmental progress. What kind of screen time should kids be having and how much is it possible to answer that?
Speaker 2 00:05:17 <laugh> I think I, I might just go back to your first point, cuz I think that's quite an important one about how things have changed. And we do this a lot. We, we compare what it was like when we were younger, but I think if you look over the last 20 years, I think us both having a conversation, we would struggle to find something that has had such an impact on the world as the internet, its impact has been huge for many reasons, for many brilliant reasons, but we've also seen the challenges it's brought. And you mentioned about how things have changed in terms of the screen in the corner, in the sitting room, the TV was the thing when we were growing up, I don't know what it was like in your house, but in our house we were told you'll watch your breathing.
Speaker 2 00:05:58 If you watch too much TV, that that's the narrative we were being fed. And I suppose there's some quite big differences between the TV screen in the corner and how we experience the internet nine high children experience it. TV was in the corner, it was in a communal space. We watched TV together. So we watched it as a family and we kind of talked about things that were going on or we watched it with our brothers and sisters. We also have public service broadcasting. So there's spaces made for children on TV there's children's TV program. And there's times allocated for children to watch TV and the internet isn't like this it's largely unregulated. Now there is new regulation coming in in Ireland through the online safety media regulation bill, which is brilliant. But I suppose in this area, we see education as a cornerstone of supporting children online and parents and families have have a really important role to play there.
Speaker 2 00:06:57 And we, we also can't deny the benefits of technology. You know, the benefits by far outweigh the risk. You know, we can see this from the pandemic, how the internet allows us to simply live our lives, you know, and at the heart of our work, it's about promoting those benefits and empowering children to become, see effective users of digital technology. So I suppose that's a bit about the context getting into screen time and time online. I think that is probably the most common question. Uh, parents and guardians and teachers are keen to know, you know, how much is too much. And I suppose I'm gonna give quite an unpopular answer. There, there unfortunately is no magic number. We have to recognize all families are different and all families use technology in different ways. What I would say, if you are a parent and your child is using a tablet or an internet and able device, there is a few things to consider and to be mindful of for parents of young children, you know, any time spent on a tablet should be supervised, should be in an area where you can see your child or see what you're do they're doing or, or be there to help if, if something comes up and I suppose to be wary of how much time they're spending online, uh, young children and teens and adults find it very hard to regulate our time online.
Speaker 2 00:08:21 It's incredibly difficult. And in this to be it, we also talk about quality time online, uh, rather than how much time they're spending online. And I'm gonna borrow a freeze from one of our child's psychotherapists that we work with, uh, Dr. Coleman doctor and he talks about helping our kids have a good digital diet. And I really like that concept. So in the same way, as we talk about healthy and it's about getting a good digital diet, you know, helping children find useful activities online, and these can be fun, educational, entertaining games. And, you know, there's sites like Artie Jr, which is brilliant. And even watching videos in YouTube about something your child might be interested in is, you know, a good use of time. So helping them get into good digital habits, selecting appropriate content for them to be engaged with and balance as well. So striking that balance between online and offline as well is really important to consider.
Speaker 1 00:09:23 And I think that becomes a real challenge. You describe the pandemic there and I get shivers down my spine thinking about it because I think that changed family's relationship with technology forever. So before you could kind of say no technology time is a treat and that was kind of the moment where it moved from being a treat to being essential. And I think that's the reality. I think that's probably actually the core of this conversation. Children started to do their schoolwork online and it was their only way of communicating to, to their teachers. And I did during the lockdown period, have some wonderful moments like you described there where we were looking at volcanoes erupting and things like that on YouTube videos. And like, it is amazing what access the children have, how they can see so much more clearly than we ever could as kids.
Speaker 1 00:10:20 I think there's definitely amazing learning opportunities there. As you said, you know, we can't deny the positives of tech, so it is important, but in terms of balance, something that I'm conscious of is sleep can be difficult if a child has been on technology. And I know I'm talking a little bit more here as I suppose in terms of parenting, but things to watch for would be sleep and any detrimental effect on relationships. So your child's ability to interact in the real world. And, and I know, and I'll talk about it later, how it gets more complex because you can integrate the real world with the online world in terms of friendships. And that becomes more important as children get older, but you know, making sure that it doesn't take over is something that's really important from a parenting perspective. And I don't know if you have anything to say on this, but I think having conversations with your children the whole way along so that everyone has realistic expectations of how much screen time is going to be, can really reduce the stress on the child.
Speaker 1 00:11:29 Because I, I found my own kids like on a Saturday, they'd be like, when, when are we going on our tablets? When are we going on our tablets? And I'm like stop asking. So I find it easiest to go, well, you know, you'll get half an hour later when we're back from swimming, letting them know that is weirdly essential. They're like little addicts. Like they, they just <laugh>, they love it. And that's fine. It's a nice way for them to relax and have downtime, but it's, it's something that I'm very conscious, can be a very hard parenting skill,
Speaker 2 00:11:58 Completely agree with you on that. The screen time and time online, I think can be one of the biggest sources of conflict in families. And it is a really hard balancing act to get, right? Some of the things that, that we would recommend in terms of establishing healthy habits are exactly as you've said, Dana, having those regular conversations, agreeing rules around internet use in the home, around when the children are aligned on tablets or aligned on games have and have specific screen free times as well, and, and ensure, you know, everyone's aware of those rules and understand those rules for younger children, we would absolutely recommend screen free zones or, you know, no devices in, in bedrooms or a time when devices are turned off and push away for the night. Sleep is really, really, really important. And to go back to that other point, you made about interacting in real life as well.
Speaker 2 00:13:04 Those are skills that, that our children need to develop as well, and really, really important. It's ensuring that there's a balance of lots of other activities and that, that their only communication isn't just through online, that there's other opportunities for interaction as well. We would encourage parents to set good example, um, around screening time. This is something we've talked a lot to our youth panel about. We had big chats with them over the last year about how, how parents can support them more. Um, cuz our youth panel told us that they know their parents and families want to support them more, but they wanted to help them understand their worlds a little bit better. Some of the things that they told us and you know, this is quite a good insight into what they feel about things they get quite frustrated when they're told to get off something that it, it maybe feels like what they're doing is an important when they see it as really important. So I suppose it's to understand that this is important to them and to have a better understanding of their lives online on what they like doing online and not to be judgemental or critical of what they're doing online.
Speaker 1 00:14:14 It's just like you described earlier about supervision and younger kids, but even as they kind of enter into the 8, 9, 10, 11 age group to ask them what they're playing and show interest on a, on a fun level, not just a, what are you playing? Are you allowed to do that? You know, is, is that age appropriate, actually see why they like what games they like. And that's actually something I've only started at doing recently and oh my goodness, they just are dying to tell you what they're up to and what kind of world they're building. You know, I read a lot about how this there's so many different game types out there and a lot of them reflect the real world and this, as I said, lots of learning opportunities to simple play and I was really happy to see the kind of things they were doing.
Speaker 1 00:15:00 So opening that conversation, like the conversations of old that you described about the TV programs that were going on. And I really liked what you said there that Coleman doctor mentioned about having, I suppose, a digital diet in terms of balancing gaming, reading, searching, learning, there's lots of different things that you can spend your time doing and probably balancing the time that a child has to play on their own for pure relaxation and the time where a parent is engaging with them and doing activities together. We just need to be maybe get a bit more used to joining their relationship with tech rather than pushing them away to get other things done. Obviously on a practical level, there are times where, of course you can't sit and watch over your child's shoulder for every minute and constantly ask questions, but maybe while you're cooking the dinner or something to just throw in the odd question, you know, and what are you doing there now?
Speaker 1 00:15:56 And oh, who's he? Or you know, it, it just, it can make it more fun and engaging for everyone. <laugh> when you're talking about modeling good behavior. <laugh> I have to say I get the fear because you know, life I in a realistic world life has become very screen based for, for parents in general. Like I know I work a lot on my phone and with the pandemic, it's a very blurry line. Now when you're working and when you're at home, there are times as a parent where you are minding your children and having to respond to work emails and whatnot. Certainly that's a challenge in my own house and something that I think a conversation happened around working from home in general, saying that it's important to leave work at say six o'clock or whatever, and stop answering emails because the temptation crept in, you know, it, it was nearly a job done for tomorrow. If you got back to something today, but I think that eats into family time and it also prevents us from modeling good behavior. I know that's something I need to work on myself. So I think that's a very good point that you've made there.
Speaker 2 00:17:04 Yeah. I, I think we would all, we all kind of welcome any times. We're, we're all allowed to put down our screens and phones. So, you know, it's, it's great if we can work together as a family on that. And I think it's lovely to hear about you interacting with your child and that them being really keen to show you about what they're doing online and what they're building online. That's really lovely to hear. It's a great way to kinda narrow that gap by getting involved and finding out about what they're doing online. And I think it makes it easier than if, if something goes wrong, that they feel like you can, you understand their word a little bit better, they will feel more ease coming to you.
Speaker 1 00:17:49 Okay. So I think that kind of brings us on nicely to one of the biggest fears that parents have. We are still learning about technology and there's a lot of conflicting information and a lot of scary information constantly in the media or in conversation around us about how the internet is used for the purposes of grooming and for predators to gain access to children. There's also a huge risk of explicit content. And there is a fear around that from, you know, a younger age, even with things like YouTube, that they might just hop onto something that only won't click away from something really inappropriate. And also then as they get kind of older, there's a lot of horrendous probably in a way, typical teenage behavior going on, but where inappropriate images are shared amongst friends. And then the other side of it is that they're open to bullying and harassment. So I think for me, those kind of three points summarize the biggest fears that I have and probably a lot of parents share those.
Speaker 2 00:18:52 So the, the concerns that you mentioned, their grooming predators is, is probably the top concern parents would have is it's your worst fear really? Isn't it. And, and then things like explicit content bullying and harassment, tho those would all support what the research says in terms of what parents' concerns are. 62% of children, age nine to 17 are using social media. And that, that increases with age. So nearly 90% of 15 to 17 year olds are using social media. And the most popular sites are things like unsurprisingly TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat in terms of the negative experiences. So what we might be worrying about the most common are actually people being nasty to each other 24% and TWI in at 22%, they stand out as kind of the most mentioned issues. 26% have seen harmful content online. And that's, you know, things like heat messages or violent images, uh, experiences of drug taking self-harm sites, promoting ways to be thin or, or sites relating to suicide.
Speaker 2 00:20:01 That's what the research is telling us that, you know, those are experiences of, of children and their parents in Ireland talking to your child from a young age about the internet and practicing, see if communication are really important things, you know, if your child is using an in enabled device, really, we, we should be having discussions with them about that and doing it at an age and stage appropriate way. So nearly like at the of cross code of the internet for younger children. So talking to them about being kind to others online, what to do, if they encounter something that makes them feel uncomfortable or that upsets them. And for, for younger children, that can be as simple as put down the device and come and get you, but that they know, and that they're clear on what to do. Then if they're getting a little bit older, th this idea about practicing, see if and respectful communication online.
Speaker 2 00:21:02 So that's things like, you know, looking at our privacy settings and actually feel like we're getting to a mature age in this conversation where young people and us as adults are getting very familiar with privacy settings and, and how to update them. So understanding how to manage them, understanding the functions of the sites we're using the chat functions that report the block functions. So it's understanding those kind of key pieces in the proposal. And then talking about things like what, what sorts of information is private information? What sorts of information is not okay to share your name, your address, things like that. So those are the kind of key considerations that are really important. And obviously those things get a little bit more complicated as children get older and as they, they want more freedom online. And that's why it's really important that we revisit those conversations and your child starting social media for the first time, or if they're getting a smartphone, those are brilliant opportunities to bring in.
Speaker 1 00:22:10 And I find it really upsetting in a way that if I'm talking to my kids, I have to explain to them well, who you're talking to might actually not be who they're presenting themselves as, and we've had those chats. And it's awful. I think having those conversations is, is so important because it's not abnormal to be so cynical, but it is sad to be so cynical and so skeptical that it's imperative that they know. And I think a good point that you said there is to chat to the kids about anytime, something that they're uncomfortable with comes onto their screen, you know, at a young age, just drop the screen and come to you. And at an older age, you know, obviously have the conversation more thoroughly. I think a lot of the bullying harassment probably comes into a bit of a, maybe an older age group in a way.
Speaker 1 00:23:03 Well, definitely, as you said, gets more complex, but for the younger ones, any games that they're playing that have the ability to chat, I think that's a really nice point. That is probably something that should mirror real life. Anyway. It's nice to be nice. You know, <laugh>, don't be rude just cuz you're on the internet, which is something that a lot of adults could do with learning. So there's obviously a presence of some level of violence in games that even younger children have access to. Some of it's just quite silly, but I'm wondering, is there any information on the impact that playing violent game or acting in a way that clearly wouldn't be acceptable in the real world role playing bad guys? Is there any evidence to say that that has a detrimental effect as your child grows
Speaker 2 00:23:51 Up? So there's actually a lot of research done into this particular area and there's, there's lots of different BES in whether it does or doesn't and varying views on it. Now I wouldn't be the right expert to weigh in on that or to say either way because I, I don't know the research well enough, but what we do know is gaming is extremely popular in Ireland, children or spending a lot of time gaming. There's a recent survey by a brilliant organization, cyber sea of kids who, who support families in schools as well. They surveyed eight to 12 year olds and find that 80% of Irish children, uh, were playing at least one game. And those, the most popular games are roadblocks Minecraft among us and, and fortn, and, and those are, I suppose, all games we'd probably be quite familiar with, but there is other games that children are playing and, and these games are designed for adults they're designed for 18 plus.
Speaker 2 00:24:54 Um, so they're not appropriate, uh, spaces for children to be playing and they're not for the correct age group. So we would encourage families to be mindful of what EMS your child is playing. Or, you know, if, if they are asking you to get a certain, em, do a little bit of research, um, you know, check the age rating. So there's a Peggy system for the age rating of games and, and this is a really robust E rating system. It's very good and a really helpful guide. We'd encourage families to take a look at that. We have a brilliant apps explained guide on our parent in the hub. That's a really good starting point for not just games for social media as well. If your child is interested in playing games online, there's some considerations or things we'd say is, is probably good to have conversations with them about that's.
Speaker 2 00:25:49 Again, going back to sharing of personal information, online, being respectful, play, fairly, being kind online, use family settings, use parental controls, all devices, games, things like that have searching CFD settings, built into them. You'll find them within the settings and, and they all have hubs on their websites and how to update things. So do you take a look at that and ensure you're happy with the settings on that? Cuz sometimes you can disabled things like chat functions also again around the time spent on gaming, cuz we know this is another big area. We can become very consumed in games, you know, and it, it can be hard to switch off or put time a game. So what we'd say here is kind of have an agreed time where they'd switch it off, but maybe give them a bit of warning because we know they find it quite frustrating if things are switched off in the middle of things.
Speaker 2 00:26:47 So maybe give them a bit of a, a kind time and a warning to when it's going to be switched off, talk to them about when something goes wrong, you know, come to you and ensure they know the settings on it, the report plot, those sorts of functions. If somebody does contact them, which as you said is unfortunately a fear, a concern what what to do if somebody does contact them that they don't know or, or messages them to come to. You tell you about that and, and your work it out together. It's just to be aware as you say that, you know, not everybody is who they say online and it is hard to figure out who they are just from an online or a chat setting. So just to be weary of that as well.
Speaker 1 00:27:33 Yeah. A big element of it that comes in is that children are coming home from school saying, I think the age, the age restriction or recommendation on roadblocks for example is 12 or something. But I know all of my children have come from the age of kind of eight. Everyone plays roadblocks, everyone's talking about it, you know, and it's that whole fear of missing out. And then you're trying to balance sticking to the appropriate age group, along with not having a detrimental effect on your child's social advancement and you don't want them to be left outta conversations because they don't know what roadblocks is. So I think that's a really good and considered approach that you said there that while there are age restrictions, it's really about getting into the nitty gritty of and understanding what exactly is there, making sure that if you're maybe comfortable with them playing on roadblocks, but not comfortable with the chat setting to turn it off and explain to them why and how, when they're 12 or whatever, they can do that more.
Speaker 1 00:28:36 But just trying to find that balanced it's total peer pressure and you know, you want them to have fun and you want them to have friends, but, um, yeah, it's a fine balance. This is probably more of a parenting thing, but I know a lot of parents use screen time as either a reward or a punishment. Should that relationship with screen time be maybe removed. I'm probably guilty of this myself and the way you're describing a healthy relationship with screen time. Maybe it should be okay for it to be part of their day and not be a treat. It's hard to forget.
Speaker 2 00:29:10 I think, yeah. I think the one thing I, when we talk about technology is we would encourage families to avoid band or threats to taking away technology. But what you described there, isn't really kind of in that space, cuz we spent a lot of time this year looking at research, you know, on parents experiences and parents understanding. And we did find that there's a gap. You know, a lot of children actually don't tell parents when something goes wrong online and that's something that we're keen to address. There's lots of reasons why a child might tell if, if something happens, they can be embarrassed about what's happened. They can be free edge. They might be afraid that the technology will be taken off them. If they tell this is kind of a natural response that you taken away, that kind of solves the problem, which unfortunately in, in most cases it doesn't. And also, I suppose there's a fear of, they have begged you to go on Roblox or play Roblox or to go on social media and then something happens and they, they have to come to you and talk to you about that. And, and you know, maybe don't want to do that. That's the one area where we would encourage families to avoid threats of bands or anything like that. But you know, certainly getting your homework done and then getting screen time makes sense as a rule. There's lots of ways that that works.
Speaker 1 00:30:33 Yeah. And I think everything that we've spoken about today really comes down to being more involved in your child's screen time. And that doesn't mean that you can't use it to get a break on occasion <laugh>, but it means that the important takeaway for me is that to realize how important it is to our children and not to dismiss that and to get involved rather than to be afraid by that, to use it, to start conversations and to learn about humanity in a way and how to be nice and the support network that your child has. And when dealing with online problems, any issues that they may come across or bullying, it might actually be a way to show them that those conversations can happen as a result of online, but also offline activities. And that you're open to have those conversations. So I think even that is, is really just connecting children and parents more and hopefully reducing that gap.
Speaker 1 00:31:33 So we've spoken a bit about how violence in gaming can impact children, but I think it's important to recognize that as many cons and negative aspects that there are to technology, we touched off at there earlier that there's positive things too. And I think even in terms of developmental side of things, just exploring the idea that playing games, that for example, mirror real positive role play situations in life, especially for younger children and even how they affect literacy and read and write and even engage with books and movies, all, all that kind of side of things. And I suppose, improving social belonging and esteem, could, could you just kind of touch off those points for me?
Speaker 2 00:32:19 So this is something that is really at the heart of our works, you know, all the resources and programs that we develop, encourage and celebrate the opportunities of digital technology. We can't deny the benefits for learning for development in terms of citizenship. Uh, technology allows us to participate, have our voices heard for children with additional needs technology officers, some amazing supports in, in terms of helping with reading and finding different ways to communicate. It also allows, um, us to find different communities, to find different voices, to seek like-minded voices. There's so many benefits to digital technology. It really does add improvements to all areas of our lives. And, and we know for teenagers, it's a really important part of them kind of expressing themselves, finding themselves, but also being activated and getting involved in things. If you look at the, the climate matters protest, the black lives matter movement as well. The internets are really important space for, for young people. You know, things like social media are so brilliant, but we also need to be mindful of the risk. What I would say to any parent listening today, there's lots of free advice and support out there. And I encourage anybody to take a look at our parent and hub. You can also order a hard copy of our parent guide. We'll send that out to you in the post for free. And that covers off all the things we talked about today.
Speaker 1 00:33:56 A lot of people use social media as a communication tool to update their family and friends on their child's lives and their own lives because you know, they could have family away or whatever. It's a very personal choice, but is there any risks or considerations even in terms of child safety and consent, the child's consent to have their digital property out there. What are the considerations we need to be aware of before we start posting images of our children online?
Speaker 2 00:34:26 I think this is quite a sensitive chopping. It's actually one, that's being talked about a lot and with everything, all families have have different approaches to this. And the great thing about social media, it does allow us to share updates with our families and with our friends. And, and it's lovely for that. And we all want to share photos and, you know, update on what we're doing. That's one of the benefits. I think some of the considerations, I suppose, think about what network you're sharing them on. Um, you know, whether it's Instagram or Facebook or TikTok, what, what are your settings set at? Who you can see this, who you can potentially see the images. And I suppose to understand it, if those settings are something you're happy with, there's also different apps for sharing updates. WhatsApp is I suppose, a bit more of a, a private sharing network images can be shared in family groups there.
Speaker 2 00:35:22 So those are alternatives to more public forums. If you wanted to just kind of keep things between your family as well. And I suppose some of the other things to consider is about consent as well and younger children can't consent to their photo being shared. And, but if you're a parent of an older child, it is actually a really good opportunity to maybe introduce the topic of consent around image sharing. So let's say if you're at a confirmation check with your child, if they're okay about the photos being shared, where they're being shared, who they're being shared with, and that allows to begin some really important conversations around consent and image sharing, cuz you know, we know that is one of the bigger topic as our kids get older. There's always kind of opportunities to introduce new conversations.
Speaker 1 00:36:15 Is there any potential in the future for children to turn around as then adults to turn around and say, I didn't want you using my images online when I was 5, 6, 7, 8, I'm now 20 and I wish you hadn't done that. Do they have any rights?
Speaker 2 00:36:35 Well, I think it's really important to say that all children have rights, rights to privacy. So we do need to bear that in mind that they have rights even as children to privacy. And to consider that when we are kind of sharing updates. Yeah. I, I'm not sure how conversations might go when they grow up about images being shared, but I think that's, uh, probably dying to individual families cuz we know families take different approaches to sharing images. And I think the one thing I suppose that we should recognize and acknowledge, we're all new to this technology. We're all learning as we go as well. So I think we need to give ourselves a bit of a break as well in terms of that because we'll change and evolve in our habits as well as we get to know how the technologies work, we need to allow room to grow as well.
Speaker 1 00:37:28 Introducing conversations around consent. I
Speaker 2 00:37:30 Think that is a really important one because like that's probably one of the biggest thing that, you know, in terms of teenage girls and boys are dealing with around consent and image sharing. And we think those are really important conversations to have at an earlier age actually, you know,
Speaker 1 00:37:45 And kind of goes on to the explicit content and it leads together. I think that's a nice approach to take, just to introduce the conversation of consent. It works on many levels. Yeah. Jane, thank you so much for sharing all of your wisdom. I certainly feel a lot better and a lot more comfortable and probably motivated to go and get more engaged in my children's online life. And maybe to encourage them a bit more, to have open chats with me about their online worlds and to recognize how important it is in, in a modern child's life and not to push it away, but maybe embrace it a little web wise.ie is a great resource. I was on looking at some of the information about the apps and I think that's a brilliant resource to have. I feel like such an old person. <laugh> looking, having to look at them and I'm like seriously, but it's really, really useful. Especially for parents who aren't that familiar with certain social media platforms themselves, I'll definitely be going on and ordering a parent booklet myself after this. So thank you so much for your time today. Thanks very much. My pleasure.
